Convertible folding play-yard and crib constructions



H. J. LANDRY Aug. 14, 1956 CONVERTIBLE FOLDING PLAY-YARD AND CRIBCONSTRUCTIONS Filed Oct. 8, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

HENRY- J. L;ANDRY.

Aug. 1955 H. J. LANDRY 2,758,317

CONVERTIBLE FOLDING PLAY-YARD AND CRIB CONSTRUCTIONS M I F A INVEN TOR.

HENRY :1. LANDRY.

CONVERTIBLE FOLDING PLAY-YARD AND CRIB CONSTRUCTIONS Henry J. Landry,Ashburnham, Mass.

Application October 8, 1953, Serial No. 384,949

9 Claims. '(Cl. -99) This invention relates to a new and improvedconvertible play-yard and crib construction inclu'ding'means forautomatically folding the same in part to provide a cribsizedconstruction from a play-yard-size construction, and including meanswhereby the entire device is fol'dable for storage and transportation.

Another object of the invention includes the provision of means forautomatically folding the device at least in part and including treadlemeans for at least initiating the pivoting of a unitary floor member andincluding infolding side wall connections between the front and rearwall of the device, the floor pivoting causing the walls to approacheach other simultaneously with the folding of the floor, this action inturn providing for the infolding action of the side walls.

A further object of the invention includes the pro vision of a new andimproved crib or play-yard folding mechanism comprising a pivoted pedalor lever having a free end engaging the floor of the play-yard or criband raising the same upon depression of the otherend thereof, andincluding an articulated linkage pivoted between said lever and theopposite side of the structure for drawing the two sides together uponthe raising of the floor, said linkage including a member pivoted tosaid treadle at a point removed from the treadle pivot and anothermember pivoted to a rear part of the device and including stop means forproviding against dropping of said linkage below a certain predeterminedpoint.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l isa View in front elevation;

Fig. 2 is a section on line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view;

Fig. 4 is a section on line 44 of Fig. 3 and showing the initiation ofthe folding action;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view illustrating one side of the devicecompletely folded;

Fig. 6 illustrates the modification of the floor hinge construction; and

Fig. 7 is a view, partly in section, illustrating the folding operationof the construction.

As shown in Figs. 1, 3 and 4, the invention comprises a structure havingcorner posts 10, 12,, 14 and 16 and centrally located center posts 18and 20, the latter being connected by a central beam 22. Hinged to thecentral beam 22, there are two oppositely pivotably mounted floormembers 24 and 26 which are rectangular in shape and together with eachother and beam 22 form a complete door for the entire device.

The structure in general provides for a play-yard when fully extended asin Fig. 3, or a crib construction when one-half is folded as shown inFig. 5, and reference is hereby made to my copending application, SerialNo. 384,911 filed October 8, 1953, which describes in greater 2,758,317Patented Aug. 14, 1956 detail the advantages of the convertibleplay-yard and crib construction.

In the present case, the floor parts 24 and 26 are not multi-part butare single, solid continuous members as shown and each is provided withmeans for raising the same.

The means for raising the floor to fold the structure comprise in eachcase a pivoted lever 28 mounted on pivot 30 which may depend by anydesired means from the rail 32 stretching between the corner posts 14and 16 or 10 and 12. The lever 28 is provided with two free ends, one ofwhich at 34 is a foot treadle or the like, and the other of which at 36is an operating end engaging the fioor member 24 or 26 (see Fig. 4) andinitiating the same in a direction to pivot about the respective hinges38 from the Fig. 3 position to the Fig. 5 position, wherein therespective corner and center posts may be latched as by a simple notchedlatching member 40.

In order to achieve the upright position of Fig. 5, however, there isprovided a special new and useful linkage comprising a member 42 whichis pivoted at 44 to the member 28 intermediate the free end 36 and thepivot 30. This lever is in turn pivoted at 46 to another lever 48, thelatter in turn being pivoted as at 50 to a depending bracket 52 on thefloor member 24 (or 26) at the rear or hinged edge thereof.

These brackets are oifset made as shown and they extend downwards andare curved rearwardly to come into substantially offset alignment (seeFig. 4).

Each lever 28 is provided with a stop member 54 that underlies thelinkage member 42, and the links 42 and 48 are provided with aninter-engaging tongue and notch means preventing the links from droppingbelow a horizonal position as in Fig. 4.

When it is desired to fold the apparatus from the position of Fig. 4 tothat of Fig. 5, it is merely necessary to depress the end 34 of thelever 28, which results in pivoting the lever in a clockwise directionand the free end thereof at 36 then engages the under side of the floormember as 24 and initiates a raising action of the same in acounter-clockwise direction, as seen in the drawings, about the axis ofthe hinges 38.

As lever 28 continues in the clockwise direction, the linkage 42, 48 isnow stretched to its longest relation, and it is brought upwardly and tothe right in Fig. 4, in which case the floor member 24 is continued inits counterclockwise motion due to the fact that the pivot at 50 of link48 to the bracket 52 is offset from and below the pivot axis of thehinges 38, and this motion continues until the floor member 24 isupright as shown plainly in Fig.7.

The floor is now folded but the in-folding side walls 60 are stillextended, as there is 'no direct connection between the floor and theside walls, but when the lever 28 reaches the position of Fig. 7, thestop member 54 contacts the under side of link 42 and breaks theconnection, so that the linkage initiates an upwardly directed movementand the front wall 58 necessarily is moved toward the center portion 22and therefore the in-folding side walls must in-fold so as to completethe folding action of the apparatus which is finally accomplished by theoperator lightly pushing on the wall 58 to accomplish the resultdescribed.

The front and rear walls of the play-yard which are indicated at 58 areconnected at their corner posts to the center posts 18 and 20 by thein-folding side wall structures 60. Obviously when either wall 58 iscaused to approach the center member 22 as above described, thein-folding side walls 60 have to in-fold, and therefore the entirefolding action is automatic although there is no direct connection atall between the floor members and the in folding side walls. The lattermay be provided with cleats 62 to assist in supporting the floor parts24 and 26 in their horizontal positions.

in Fig. 6, there is shown a modified pivot structure for the floor partswhich are indicated at 64 and 66, each of which is provided with a cleat68 having a cylindrical pin 70 at each end thereof. These pins fit inholes 72 in the end brackets 74 and are connected by fasteners 76entering pins 70. This construction avoids the triple hinge constructionwhich is plainly shown in Fig. 3, and provides a modified constructionfor the hinges.

In this case, when the device is to be used as a crib, the usual dropside may be used at either wall 58 or instead a downwardly pivotinghorizontal member 78 may be incorporated to provide an equivalentstructure without sliding the same down with respect to the crib sidemember 80. The dotted lines 82 illustrate the member 78 in uppermostposition where it may be held by a fastener or the like 84.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:

1. A folding structure of the class described comprising a rigid wall, aspaced parallel member, iii-folding side walls connecting the rigid walland the member, a single member floor hinged to the member, means tosupport the floor in horizontal position, and means to fold the floor bypivoting the same upwardly, said means comprising a lever pivoted to therigid wall, and a linkage pivotally connected to the lever at the centerof the lever, and to the floor at the hinged edge thereof, said leverhaving a portion initiating the start of raising the floor.

2. A folding structure of the class described comprising a rigid wall, aspaced parallel member, in-folding side walls connecting the rigid walland the member, a single member floor hinged at one side edge to themember, means to support the floor in horizontal position, and means tofold the floor by pivoting the same upwardly, said means comprising alever pivoted to the rigid wall, and a linkage pivotally connected tothe lever intermediate the ends of the latter and to the floor at thehinged edge thereof, said lever having an outer treadle portion and afree-ended inner portion engaging the under side of the floor at itsfree edge to initiate the raising thereof.

3. A folding structure of the class described comprising a rigid wall, aspaced parallel member, in-folding side walls connecting the rigid walland the member, a single member floor at one edge hinged to the member,means to support the floor in horizontal position, and means to fold thefloor by pivoting the same upwardly, said means comprising a leverpivoted to the rigid wall, and a linkage connected to the lever and tothe fioor at the hinged edge thereof, said lever having an outer treadleportion and a free-ended inner portion adapted to engage the floor, saidlinkage comprising a pair of inter-pivoted links one of which is pivotedto the lever and the other being pivoted with respect to the floor at apoint below and spaced from the hinge axis of the floor relative to theparallel member.

4. A folding structure of the class described comprising a rigid wall, aspaced parallel member, in-folding side walls connecting the rigid walland the member, a single floor hinged at one edge to the member, meansto support the floor in horizontal position, and means to fold the fioorby pivoting the same upwardly, said means comprising a lever pivoted tothe rigid wall, and a linkage connected to the lever and to the floor atthe hinged edge thereof, said lever having an outer treadle portion anda free-ended inner portion engaging the under side of the floor at thefree edge thereof, a projection on the lever underlying and adapted toengage a portion of the linkage, to break the same and fold it to causethe parallel member and floor to approach the wall.

5. A folding structure of the class described comprising a rigid wall, aspaced parallel member, in-folding side walls connecting the rigid walland the member, a single member floor hinged to the member, means tosupport the floor in horizontal position, and means to fold the floor bypivoting the same upwardly, said means comprising a lever pivoted to therigid wall, and a linkage connected to the lever and to the floor at thehinged edge thereof, said lever having an outer treadle portion and afree-ended inner portion adapted to engage the floor, said linkagecomprising a pair of inter-pivoted links, one of which is pivoted to thelever at a point spaced from the pivot point of the lever, a dependingracket on the floor adjacent the hinged edge thereof, and the other linkbeing pivoted to the bracket.

6. A folding structure of the class described comprising a rigid wall, aspaced parallel member, in-folding side walls connecting the rigid walland the member, a single one-piece fioor hinged to the member, means tosupport the floor in horizontal position, and means to fold the floor bypivoting the same upwardly, said means comprising a lever pivoted to therigid wall, and a linkage connected to the lever and to the floor at thehinged edge thereof, said lever having an outer treadle portion and afree-ended inner portion adapted to engage the floor, said linkagecomprising a pair of inter-pivoted links, one of which is pivoted to thelever at an intermediate point between the pivot point of the lever andthe free end thereof, a depending bracket on the floor adjacent thehinged edge thereof, the other link being pivoted to the bracket at apoint downwardly spaced from the floor.

7. A folding structure of the class described comprising a rigid wall, aspaced parallel member, in-folding side walls connecting the rigid walland the member, a single one-piece floor hinged to the member, means tosupport the door in horizontal position, and means to fold the floor bypivoting the same upwardly, said means comprising a lever pivoted to therigid wall, and a linkage connected to the lever and to the floor at thehinged edge thereof, said linkage comprising a pair of pivoted links,one of which is pivoted to the lever at a point spaced from thepivotpoint of the lever, a depending bracket on the floor adjacent the hingededge thereof, the other link being pivoted to the bracket andinterengaging means between the two links to prevent sag of the linkspast a horizontal position, the links being swingable upwardly andforwardly by the lever.

8. A folding structure of the class described comprising a rigid wall, aspaced parallel member, in-folding side walls connecting the rigid walland the member, a floor hinged to the member, means to support the floorin horizontal position, and means to fold the floor by pivoting the sameupwardly, said means comprising a lever pivoted to the rigid wall, saidlever having an end to engage and lift the folding floor adjacent thefree edge thereof, and a linkage connected to the lever at a pointremoved from the rigid wall and to the floor at the hinged edge thereof,the linkage being brought bodily toward the rigid wall by swinging thelever and thereby causing the floor to continue the upward swingingmovement thereof.

9. A folding structure of the class described comprising a rigid wall, aspaced parallel member, in-folding side walls connecting the rigid walland the member, a floor hinged to the member, means to support the floorin horizontal position, and means to fold the floor by pivoting the sameupwardly, said means comprising a lever pivoted to the rigid wall, saidlever having an end to engage and lift the folding floor adjacent thefree edge thereof, and a linkage connected to the lever at a pointremoved from the rigid wall and to the floor at the hinged edge thereof,a depending member on the floor adjacent the hinge axis thereof, thelinkage being secured to the depending member at a point spaced from thefloor and the linkage being brought bodily toward 2,523,124 the rigidwall and causing the floor to continue the 2,561,637 upward swingingmovement hereof. 2,573,526 2,670,477 References Cited in the file ofthis patent 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 32 510 2,477,231 Bourdon July 26,1949 6 Landry Sept. 19, 1950 Rex July 24, 1951 White Oct. 30, 1951 PondMar. 2, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS Sweden Mar. 20, 1902

